The Chocolate Panic Picture Show

[Vickiana Sconyers]

1Select fresh chestnuts that are both heavier in weight and firm to the touch, not spongy. Also, give the chestnuts a quick look for small circular holes in their shell as any holes you find are a sure sign that pests have entered the nut.

These potently flavorful, easy to make banana nut butter power bars work great for dessert or as an on-the-go sport power bar. As you see in the picture above, I prefer making them in the toaster oven for ease and speed, though the picture book directions linked to this post also show how to bake them in a standard kitchen oven.

Apple-Pumpkin Pie: This recipe, which you can get by clicking this link or the picture below, makes for a full-on fall flavor powerhouse that combines the rich flavors of apple and pumpkin pie and is just as easy to make as either of those pies on their own.

Last post showed how to make a quick and easy pie crust from scratch, which tastes way better than any pre-made store bought pie shell. This post provides two recipes that are intended to inspire your imagination. Sure, both recipes work fine as is, but the best thing about preparing anything to eat is making it just the way you want to suit your personal taste.

The first recipe for Banana Nut Pie Crust, which you can get by clicking this link or the picture directly below, uses banana both to add flavor and replace the need for oil or butter in the pie crust dough.

The second recipe, Fully Flavorful Nut, Quinoa and Flaxseed Pie Crust, which you can get by clicking this link or the picture below, shows how to use a variety of optional ingredients to pump up flavor across the board.

The secret to whipping cream as quickly as possible is using cold ingredients: fresh heavy whipped cream straight from the refrigerator and, if you have time, even using a freezer-chilled mixing bowl or measuring cup, as shown below.

Our tour guide yelled at us if we dared to look off at one of the intricate sculptures lining the edifice while she talked. She briskly walked over and shooed us back in line if I deigned to try to take more photos than her brief stops allowed. She had zero bedside manner and was making me hate the entire experience.

There was no flying through the chapel for us as it was SO packed we sort of had no choice but to move along against our will with the fellow chapel-goers in one massive amoeba (thus adding to my mounting panic!).

Do you shoot in manual? I think I actually had mine on P back then but I now shoot exclusively in M with my ISO and F-stop as low as I can go, and then I adjust my shutter speed accordingly. I find my pictures are a lot less grainy that way!

I travel with the kids and as a former teacher can tell you that you CAN see things like the Vatican and have a great time doing it. The key is to learn about it. I write travel guides for kids and one on Rome was my first so we could have a family vacation full of wonder and excitement and NO whining!! ?

3a8082e126